Broken Bone

"Argh! Kriffing hell!"

"Language, Anakin! There are young ones present."

"I've heard worse, Master."

"No doubt from my former Padawan..."

"Yeah, but... I'm still not sure what some of the words mean, though."

"I hope you don't expect me to explain them to you, young one."

"Kriffing Sith hellfire, they're still farking shooting at us! Will one of you shukking shoot back?!"

"Our weapons systems are all offline, Master. Along with life support, the hyperspace engines, the coolant system, the navigational array, the comm. system, the emergency ejector system, even the life pod's been destroyed... the ship's full of holes, we're venting atmosphere and engine plasma... we can't escape, we can't call for help, and we definitely can't fight back."

"I suggest we find a suitable planet to land on and see if these pirates are as brave on the ground as they are reckless in space."

"I'd welcome – argh! Fark! – I'd welcome any suggestions!"

"Master, before the navigational array went off I saw a small moon with a breathable atmosphere orbiting the gas giant, fourth planet in the system, if you can find it..."

"Dank farrik! I've kind of got my kriffing hands full here, Ahsoka!"

"There, Anakin! To the left of the comet trail! The gas giant!"

"Fark! The fragging controls are karked..."

"Anakin, if we survive this, honest to goodness, I am going to wash your mouth out with engine cleaner."

"If we survive this..."

"Sithspit! We'll be fine! Shit! Strap in!"

"Way ahead of you, Master."

"Oh, dear... we're going to crash again, aren't we...?"

"It's not my fragging fault, blame the sleemo pirates and this wastoid piece of bantha-crap ship...!"

"Master, the hull plating is severely compromised, you need to pull up or we'll break up in the atmosphere!"

"What the kriff do you think I'm trying to do?!"

"Anakin... pull up..."

"Fark! Shukking hell!"

"Master, pull up!"

"The ground is approaching us rather quickly, Anakin..."

"Oh... fark!"

Anakin Skywalker let out a low moan as he came around slowly. He raised his head, scarcely able to believe that he was even still alive, let alone able to move. He blinked, raising his shaking left hand to wipe the sweat from his eyes. In front of him, the blackened control panel sparked and fizzed quietly, and he drew back his mechanical right hand from the ruined console, rolling his shoulders. Amazingly, aside from a few bruises, he seemed relatively unharmed. A waver in the Force and he was sharply reminded that he was not the only member of the ship's small crew. There was a groan from just behind him and to his right and he turned towards the soft sound.

"Ahsoka?"

"Ugh... Master?"

"Are you alright?"

"Uh... yeah... yeah, I think so. Just a bit banged up, I think... we survived, then. Did the pirates follow us down here?"

Anakin was about to reply, when he heard the distinctive sound of blaster fire, met with the unmistakeable waspish hum of a lightsabre.

"Obi-Wan!"

He whipped around, but the Jedi Master's chair was empty, of course; Anakin and Ahsoka shared a knowing look, before they launched themselves from their own seats, snatching their lightsabres from their belts and scrambling out of the wreckage of their ship. Sure enough, a short distance away, Obi-Wan stood with his back to them, his blue lightsabre twirling expertly in his hands as he deflected the blaster fire back at the savage pirates that had attacked them. Anakin and Ahsoka launched into the fray unhesitatingly, the three Jedi fighting side-by-side.

"Glad to see you're both awake at last," Obi-Wan grinned at them, "I was beginning to think you were going to sleep through all of the fun."

"Well, I thought I deserved a rest after saving all our lives by pulling off yet another brilliantly impossible landing."

Even in the midst of battle, the three of them were taking stock of their surroundings. It did not take long. Although the moon supported an atmosphere, the air was noticeably thin. The landscape comprised of pale grey craggy rocks, cracked and pitted, with deep ravines and tall juts of stone spiking high into the sky, indicating violent tectonic activity at some point in the moon's past. Sparse vegetation in the form of mosses and lichens clung to the rocks in muted browns and reds, lending little colour to the bleak landscape. It was clear that not a lot of rain fell here.

The blaster fire became patchy and more spread out, as the pirates took shelter behind the rocky outcroppings, circling around the three Jedi.

"They're trying to surround us!" Ahsoka called out, her twin lightsabres braced in front of her, "there – I can see them! I've got you now..."

"Ahsoka! No! We need to stick together!"

Heedless of her Master's cry, the young Togruta launched herself to the left, lightsabres raised high, vanishing behind some of the rocks.

"She never listens," Anakin sighed.

"I wonder where she gets that from," Obi-Wan smirked, "oh well... you take the ones on the right, I'll deal with the rest of them, agreed?"

"Agreed!"

Raising their lightsabres in unison, the two Jedi separated, and charged at their foes. The rest of the battle was brief, brutal, and decisive. In the midst of it, the pirate ship took off, abandoning those engaged in the fight with the Jedi, despite Obi-Wan's desperate attempts to reach it, knowing it was their fastest ticket off the barren moon.

As the last pirate fell, and their ship disappeared into the sky high above, Obi-Wan deactivated his lightsabre, clipping it back on to his belt. He lowered his head, releasing his emotions into the Force, including his regret at the lives lost that day. He straightened up, and headed back toward the ruined remains of their ship, where Anakin and Ahsoka were already waiting for him.

"Well... it looks like we might be stuck here, then," sighed Ahsoka, "seriously, Master, when you said we were going to be chasing down smugglers in the Outer Rim, I didn't think they'd be the ones chasing us..."

"Perhaps we can salvage enough to get the emergency transponder working," Anakin rubbed his jaw, thoughtfully, "at the very least we might be able to signal for help."

"Well, if anyone can get it working, Anakin, it's you," Obi-Wan smiled at his former Padawan, "I have absolute faith in you..."

He broke off, as the Force screamed a warning at him. He whipped around, seeing the danger a fraction of a second before either of the younger Jedi beside him. On the floor, one of the pirates was not as finished as first thought; he was raising his blaster in a bloodied, shaking hand, and fired, once – straight at Ahsoka. Without thinking and unable to draw his lightsabre in time, Obi-Wan lunged, shoving the young Togruta aside, sending her crashing gracelessly to the ground with a surprised yelp. Anakin snarled a savage curse, his lightsabre igniting and arcing through the air, severing the pirate's head from his body. He deactivated it, straightening up; as he saw Obi-Wan stagger backwards.

"Obi-Wan?"

The Jedi Master's eyes met his, shock written on his bearded features, one hand going to the blackened mark on the right shoulder of his tunic. He lurched back, and Anakin cried out a warning.

"Obi-Wan! Look out! The edge!"

The Master Jedi faltered, his boot heel catching a rock jutting out behind him. He stumbled, and, unable to catch his balance, he toppled over backwards. He free-fell for a long moment, before hitting the sloping rock face with a jarring thump. Unable to break his fall, he rolled and slid down the slope, the loose rocks and shingle sliding with him as he tumbled. He hit the bottom with a sickening crack, and then everything went dark.

"Obi-Wan!"

"Master!"

Two voices rang out, united in their shock and horror as the older Jedi fell from sight. Anakin was the first to move and the faster of the two, flinging himself recklessly forward, momentarily relieved to see it was not a sheer drop but an angled slope, though his heart leapt into his throat as he saw his Master tumbling down the slope, eventually coming to a halt at the bottom in a cloud of dust, trails of rubble still skittering in his wake.

"Obi-Wan!" he shouted, desperately, "Obi-Wan, can you hear me?"

There was no response; the other man lay unnaturally still at the bottom of the incline; Anakin could sense Ahsoka's worry and fear through their training bond. It was a feeling he shared, as they met each other's gaze.

"He... he saved me..."

"I know, Snips. Stay here. I'm gonna go and get him."

"Be careful, Skyguy."

Anakin eased himself over the edge and, part climbing, part sliding; he scrambled down the slope, feet first, until he skidded to a halt beside the downed Jedi.

"Obi-Wan?" he muttered, "Obi-Wan... wake up. Please..."

Gently turning his former Master onto his back, Anakin tried to assess the extent of his injuries. He noted a nasty cut on Obi-Wan's temple that was already swelling into an impressive bruise, his skin littered with minor cuts and abrasions. However, this was not what caught his attention the most. The first thing he saw was the blaster wound to the man's right shoulder; the bolt had just clipped him, which had caused him to lose his balance, staggering over the edge of the steep slope. The fabric of his tunic was scorched black, the flesh beneath blistered and badly burnt, but it did not look too serious. However, the second thing he saw was the unnatural bend in the lower part of Obi-Wan's right leg; it was clearly broken, and Anakin grimaced in dismay.

"Okay, Obi-Wan," the young Jedi drew in a deep, steadying breath, "I've changed my mind. Do us both a favour and stay unconscious, or else this is really gonna hurt..."

Summoning the Force to him, Anakin gently felt along Obi-Wan's damaged leg, scanning the bone, checking the break and, with the aid of the Force, he grasped the injured limb. With all of his physical strength and mental focus, he yanked the bone straight, using the Force to align the break. With a sickening snap, the broken bones were immediately straightened, and Anakin swallowed a swell of nausea at what he had just done. Obi-Wan let out an agonised gasp as the sharp pain jolted him back to consciousness, and Anakin quickly pressed his hand down on his chest, preventing him from moving and risking further injury. Although their training bond had faded since Anakin had chosen Ahsoka as his Padawan and formed a bond with her, he could still sense the other man's pain as if it were his own.

"Anakin!" Obi-Wan gasped, breathlessly, "What... what happened?"

"You saved Ahsoka, Obi-Wan – you took a blaster bolt to the shoulder followed by a tumble down a ravine."

"Ah... help... help me up, we need to get out of here... I can walk..."

"No chance," Anakin shook his head, "you've got a bad concussion, and your leg's broken. You're not walking out of here, let alone climbing back up there... I'll get you up on my shoulder; I'll carry you."

"Oh, dear..."

"You can say that again. You're probably going to want to do yourself a favour and pass out again, because this is not going to be pleasant..."

Obi-Wan grimaced as Anakin stood up, carefully, mindful of the treacherous, loose ground beneath them. At Anakin's beckoning hand gesture, Obi-Wan sighed, and obediently extended his left arm. Anakin reached down with his mechanical right hand, and they grasped each other's elbows firmly. At Obi-Wan's reluctant nod, Anakin braced himself, and hauled the Master to his feet. Dizziness immediately crashed over him, and as his weight hit his injured leg, he cried out wordlessly in pain. The broken bone shifted, and he stumbled; he would have fallen if not for Anakin's strong, supportive grip. Pale, shaking with pain, Obi-Wan clung to his former apprentice, fighting to stay conscious. It was a losing battle.

"Oh, kriff..." Obi-Wan moaned, and then slumped forward into Anakin's chest, out cold once again.

Anakin staggered slightly, suddenly find himself with an armful of Jedi Master, and he managed a wry, humourless smile.

"Yeah... I thought that might happen. Not to worry, Master... I'm here to save your life... again."

With a slight heave, Anakin managed to haul Obi-Wan's unconscious body over his shoulder, patting the man's back for good measure. Keeping one arm wrapped around the Master's waist, Anakin began the slow climb back up to the plateau, where Ahsoka waited for them with wide, anxious eyes.

"Master!" she greeted him with undisguised relief as he finally reached the top, and she scrambled to help him haul Obi-Wan to safety, lying the unconscious Master down on the ground, "oh, no... Master Obi-Wan?"

"He's gonna be okay, Snips," Anakin tried to sound reassuring but only came across as gasping, breathless from the ordeal of his climb, "listen... go back to ship. Find a medical kit, and see if you can find a couple of durasteel struts, as straight as possible, about this long..." he held his hands apart to demonstrate the desired length, "...and something to bind them with. His leg is broken, and we're going to have to splint it. I'll be right behind you with Obi-Wan."

"Yes, Master," the Padawan shot a worried look at her injured Grandmaster, and then shot off towards the ship, filled with determined purpose.

"Alright, Obi-Wan," Anakin nodded to the unresponsive Jedi, "let's get you inside, and see if we can make you more comfortable. Any time you want to wake up and start talking back to me again, then that would be great. Oh, and, by the way, if you think I've forgotten about that little curse word that slipped out back there, then you're sadly mistaken..."

Carefully working his right arm under Obi-Wan's back, mindful of his injuries, Anakin crouched down, slipping his left arm under the other man's knees. Straightening his back, he staggered to his feet, cradling the injured Master in his arms. He crossed the distance to the downed ship with ease, entering through one of the myriad of holes in the hull. He kicked his way through debris and found Ahsoka in the rear hold, gathering their supplies in one place.

"This room seems the most intact," she commented, casting her eyes around the small space, "it'll offer the best shelter, anyway... I bet it gets cold here at night."

"Yeah, and I don't think we've got anything to burn to keep warm," Anakin shook his head, "let's cross that bridge when we come to it, okay? First things first, we need to see to Obi-Wan... he's in bad shape, we've gotta help him."

"I brought down one of the mattresses off the bunks," Ahsoka patted the makeshift bed, "the sleeping quarters are completely trashed, but some of the bedding is salvageable."

"Good thinking, Snips," Anakin nodded, approvingly.

Ahsoka had placed the mattress against one of the bulkheads, with the head end butted up against the wall, a pillow and blanket already waiting. Anakin knelt down, gently laying Obi-Wan on the padded mattress, as Ahsoka crouched on the other side and reached out, cradling her Grandmaster's head in both hands, easing him onto the waiting pillow. Anakin spotted two durasteel struts and some strips of fabric waiting to one side, where Ahsoka had clearly scavenged the thin metal poles from the wreckage and then torn up a bed sheet to make some rough bindings.

"I'll see to his leg," Anakin gritted his teeth, grimly, "see what you can do about that blaster burn and his head wound."

They worked in relative silence; Anakin re-straightened the broken leg once again, ignoring Ahsoka's muted murmur of distress at the sound of the bone snapping back into place. He placed the metal poles either side of the leg, wrapping and tying the strips of bed sheets as tightly as he dared, in an effort to prevent the bone moving and causing further damage.

Ahsoka tended to the blaster wound first, cutting away a little of the fabric around the burn to get a better look at it. Her heart hammered in her chest at the thought that the injuries inflicted upon her beloved Grandmaster had been incurred in her defence, as she saw the red, black and blistered skin. Thankfully, it had been a glancing shot, skimming past and just nicking the side of his shoulder. Ahsoka had seen the devastation a blaster could wreck upon a person's body, a sad fact of the raging war with the Separatists. There was very little blood, the wound having instantly cauterised, so she settled for gently cleansing the raw-looking burn and applying a liberal amount of bacta gel, before applying a dressing and tugging the burnt tunic back into place, hoping to keep her Grandmaster warm and prevent him slipping into shock. Next, she turned her attention to the swollen cut on his forehead, cleaning it, and applying more bacta gel. The cut continued to ooze blood, so she applied a sterile dressing and carefully wrapped a bandage around his head to hold it in place, tying it off.

When they had finished, Anakin held his left hand over Obi-Wan's face, closing his eyes and concentrating, scanning the wounded Master with the Force, moving his hand down the length of the prone form before him as he did so.

"Hmm..." he murmured, "definitely a concussion... some bruising to his ribs but thankfully nothing broken there... fark, there's some internal bruising here, but it doesn't look too serious... lots of bumps and bruises... ouch, that' s a bruised spleen, that hurts... his spine's intact, thank the Force... ugh, that leg... still, it doesn't look like we've missed anything too serious. We need to keep him still, keep him warm, and encourage him to drink something when he's awake."

"You have got to teach me how to do that," Ahsoka marvelled, as she gently covered Obi-Wan with a soft, cream-coloured blanket, resting one hand on his uninjured shoulder, "do you think he'll wake up soon?"

"Probably, but I don't know if that's a good thing or not," Anakin replied, grimly, kneeling in front of his Padawan and beside his Master, "he's going to be in an awful lot of pain when he does, and we don't have much in the way of medical supplies."

"Can we put him in a healing trance?"

"I wouldn't recommend it," Anakin winced, regretfully, "you're not trained to do it and I'm... clumsy, at best, when it comes to Force healing. Perhaps when he wakes up he can do it himself... in the meantime, I'm going to see if I can build us a working communications array and a locator beacon."

"What can I do, Master?"

"I need you to sift the wreckage for supplies, gather anything useful you can; food, water, medical supplies, bedding, clothes, tools, everything. Bring it here and catalogue what we've got... we could be here for a while. Make up another bed or two if you can. Oh, and see if any of the pirates are carrying anything useful in their pockets, you know, like a ship with a working hyperdrive and comm. system..."

Ahsoka raised a tired smile, nodded wordlessly, and they set to their tasks.

The rocky moon rotated slowly on its axis, and, as night fell, the sky was lit with a sickly orange glow from the gas giant the moon orbited. While Anakin spent the hours that passed ripping out and tinkering with various components from the ship's systems, Ahsoka searched through the wreckage for anything useful. When she had finished with the ship, she turned to the bodies of the pirates that littered the ground outside. She took their weapons; assorted blasters, knives, an electro-whip and various other instruments of death. The weapons were crude and uncivilised compared to the elegant precision of a lightsabre, but she took them just in case.

She found several flasks on the bodies, some of which contained water; others containing a foul-smelling alcohol she wrinkled her nose at, but kept nonetheless, not wanting to waste anything. She took several tools, including a couple of sets of lock-picks her Master might find useful in his efforts to build a transponder. However, not one of them was carrying so much as a holo-projector or anything beyond a small, short-range communicator.

When she had finished looting the corpses, she took to dragging the bodies to the edge of a deep ravine several yards away, one by one, shoving them over the edge, not watching as the remains fell to the rocks far below. If they were going to be here for a while, she did not want to leave the bodies rotting near their ship, which afforded them their only shelter and chance of survival. Her grisly task complete, she headed back into the ship, finding her Master in the cockpit. She cast her eyes around sadly; it looked as if a gundark had ripped through the ship in a wild frenzy. Every panel was torn open, components and debris strewn everywhere, circuits trailing loose wires, parts and pieces scattered or piled up all over the place. To her, it looked a hopeless mess.

"How's it going, Skyguy?" she asked, handing him the few tools she had taken from the bodies outside.

"Huh..." he gave a laconic shrug, "everything's pretty much karked but there's enough here for me to put together a working beacon. We may not be able to have a conversation, but we can at least let someone know we're here."

"As long as it's not more pirates," Ahsoka shuddered, "I think my distress call was transmitted to the Temple before we crashed, so hopefully someone's looking for us."

"If Obi-Wan were here, he'd tell you to trust in the Force, Padawan," Anakin replied, fiddling with the communications beacon in his lap, "getting the beacon working is one thing. Finding enough power to run it will be the other. I've shut down every single system I can to conserve our power. Once this thing's up and running, we need it to be transmitting for as long as possible."

"Yeah, I thought it was getting cold in here," Ahsoka shivered, watching her Master's nimble fingers carefully connecting several of the wires on his construction.

"How's our supplies situation?" Anakin asked, not taking his eyes off his work, squinting in the half-light cast by the gas giant, visible through the broken viewport of the cockpit.

"Could be worse," Ahsoka shrugged, "we've got enough food and water to last a week, maybe two if we ration it carefully. I've made up two more beds and we've got plenty of blankets. There are bandages and bacta enough in the medical kits, but we've only got six doses of painkillers... a lot of our supplies seem to have been lost."

"Well, there were several holes in the ship by the time we got this far," Anakin did not sound too worried, trying to give her a reassuring smile, "cheer up, Snips, we'll be out of here in no time, and you can put this down to yet another invaluable learning experience courtesy of your wise and wonderful Master..."

He trailed off, his head turning to one side, the tool in his hand slipping from his fingers, as a grimace crossed his scarred face.

"Master? What is it? What's wrong?"

"It's Obi-Wan... he's waking up... and he's in a lot of pain. I can feel it."

The young Jedi Knight immediately set aside his project, abandoning his tools, scrambling to the back of the ship, with Ahsoka close behind him. She hung back, wringing her hands nervously, trying to release her anxieties into the Force, as Anakin knelt over his Master, his prosthetic hand resting lightly on the other man's chest.

"Obi-Wan?" he said, gently, his eyes desperately searching the other man's face for a hint of recognition, "Obi-Wan, can you her me? I need you to open your eyes, Master... that's it, look at me... how do you feel?"

"Anakin," Obi-Wan rasped, his voice sounding hoarse and tight with pain, "are you... are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Anakin laughed, dryly, at the misplaced concern, "so's Ahsoka, thanks to you."

"Ah... Ahsoka?"

"I'm here, Master," she quickly stepped forward, kneeling beside him on the opposite side to Anakin, her small hands taking his right one gently, careful not to move his injured shoulder, even as she felt him give her fingers a gentle squeeze of reassurance, "I'm... I'm so sorry... the pirate, I should have seen him... I should have sensed the danger..."

"It was not your fault, young Padawan," Obi-Wan spared her a small smile that quickly twisted into a grimace, "argh... Anakin... what happened? My leg..."

"Your leg is broken, Master," Anakin told him, gently, "you fell, remember? You also hit your head pretty hard... here, you should try to drink a little water..."

The former Padawan supported the injured Master's head in his metal hand, using the other to hold a canteen to his lips. He helped the other man to take a few sips of the precious liquid, before easing him back onto the bed.

"We're going to be stuck here for some time," Anakin reached for the medical kit, selecting a vial of painkillers, "here, this should take the edge off for you for a few hours. If you can put yourself in a healing trance for a while, it would really help."

"Mmm... perhaps," Obi-Wan conceded, turning his head slightly to one side as Anakin administered the medication, "that's... much better. Thank you... now... what's the situation?"

"Two Corellians and a kriff-load of bantha-fodder," Anakin quipped, quoting one of his favourite holo-net comedies.

This earned him a wry but amused glance from his Master, bringing a genuine smile to his face for one moment. It crumbled quickly, though, as he laid out the reality of what they were facing.

"Ahsoka thinks the distress signal was transmitted before the ship went down, but we didn't receive an acknowledgement from the Temple, and there's a pretty good chance that the pirates were blocking our comm. channels anyway," Anakin sighed, with a grim shake of his head, "we've got enough food and water for about two weeks if we ration it, very little power, and virtually no working systems... we're stuck here until either someone stumbles across us, which is unlikely in this region of space, or until I can get our locator beacon working. Even then, there's no guarantee someone will be able to pick up our signal and find us out here."

"So, situation as normal, then," Obi-Wan huffed, with a pained wince, raising his left hand to his aching head, "Anakin... I'm no help to either of you if I put myself in a healing trance. My leg may be broken but my hands still work well enough – bring the beacon down here and I'll help you to work on it."

"I would much rather you rested, Master," Anakin assured him, gently, "I can finish the beacon in the next couple of hours, and then I'll try to transmit a signal for help. Whatever happens, our fate will be the same."

"I would not have it any other way," Obi-Wan returned the soft smile with one of his own, blinking heavily as exhaustion crept back over his fading consciousness, "trust in the Force, young ones... and wake me if you need to..."

"Just get some rest, Master... we'll be out of here in no time, you'll see."

The two younger Jedi waited until they were sure the Master Jedi had fallen asleep and was resting as comfortably as possible, before their eyes met over his recumbent form.

"Stay with him, Snips," Anakin told her, "keep an eye on him... call me if anything changes, okay?"

"I'll look after him, Master," Ahsoka nodded, dutifully, her blue eyes bright in the gloom of the ship, "I promise."

Anakin nodded at her, proudly, and made his way back up to the cockpit. Ahsoka dragged one of the other two mattresses she had salvaged so that it lay next to her Grandmaster's makeshift bed, picking up a blanket and wrapping it around her shoulders. She sat, cross-legged on the mattress, and, calling the Force to her in an effort to keep warm, she took Obi-Wan's lax right hand in both of hers. Pleased that he seemed to be deep in slumber, certain she would awaken if he were to stir, she allowed herself to slip into a light meditation.

By the grey light of dawn, the landscape was no more hospitable than it had been when they had first arrived on the barren moon. Anakin took a short walk around the ship, surveying the damage and easing the kinks out of his spine, stretching sore muscles, stiff from being bent over his work through the night. He followed the drag marks in the dust to where Ahsoka had disposed of the bodies of the pirates into a deep ravine, nodding in quiet approval at her actions. He ran through a few katas to stretch and warm his aching body, still tender from the crash and cramped from hours of work on the beacon, before he went back inside.

He had been working for at least another hour when Ahsoka appeared, clutching a dried ration pack and a canteen of water.

"Master, if you're not going to sleep, at least please eat and drink something..."

"How do you know I didn't sleep?" Anakin replied, playfully, carefully teasing a frayed wire out of its plastic casing and wrapping it into a contact terminal.

"Because you never make your own bed and you're never up before me in the mornings," Ahsoka shot back, "here, please, just eat something."

Anakin accepted the ration pack with a wry smirk, tearing it open and taking a bite out of it.

"Mmm, rations," he mumbled, around a mouthful of food, "so dry and yet so chewy and yet so tasteless. Wonderful."

"Well, it's not like there are any bugs out here for you to eat," Ahsoka rolled her eyes, passing him the canteen of water at his outstretched hand, "how's it going?"

"I'm almost ready to turn it on," he nodded, "but if it works, it isn't going to for long. We don't have much power."

"Let's hope it's enough," Ahsoka sighed.

"How's Obi-Wan?"

"He woke a few times during the night," she replied, glancing down at the floor sadly, "I think he's in a lot of pain but he's trying to hide it. I gave him some more painkillers just now, so he'll probably sleep for a couple of hours. I wish he'd go into a healing trance but he insists on staying out of one until he knows we're all safe. We've only got four doses of the pain-reliever left, Master."

"I know, Snips," Anakin sighed, tightening a screw back down on one of the contact panels, "you did the right thing... if we run out of medication he won't have any choice; either he puts himself in a healing trance or I'll do it for him, I swear to the Force..."

"Uh, didn't you put Master Tu'ulio into a coma the last time you tried to do a healing trance?"

"Yup... Eh, he was fine; it only took him a week to come out of it."

Ahsoka shook her head as Anakin stuffed the last of the ration pack into his mouth, washing it down with a swig of water.

"Why don't you go and get some air?" he suggested, "Such as it is, anyway. Run through a few katas or do some sabre practice. I'll let you know when I'm ready to light up the beacon."

"Thank you, Master. Always nice to have a heads-up to take cover before one of your inventions explodes..."

"That happened, like, one time..."

"You blew a hole in the floor of our quarters."

"It was decorative! And it made quite the talking point in the room... now go do your katas before I make you run some laps instead!"

"Yes, Master," Ahsoka huffed, but she was smiling as she did so.

It was just over an hour later that Anakin sent a small tug down their training bond, summoning his Padawan back to him. She dashed back to the cockpit, breathing heavily from her exercises.

"It's ready?" she gasped.

"I think so," Anakin connected the jerry-rigged beacon into the main power feed, "just a little bit more technical wizardry, and then..."

He flicked a switch. There was a mechanical whirring sound, and a small light began blinking slowly on the top of the jumble of wires of parts Anakin had put together.

"Is it... uh... does that mean it's working?"

"Yeah," Anakin raised a satisfied grin, "the beacon's transmitting our location. If there are any Republic ships within range they'll be able to pick up and identify our transponder signal. Hopefully, as we're not far off a decent trade route, someone will be along in the next few days. Keep your chin up, Snips, there's hope for us yet."

"How long will the power reserve last?" Ahsoka asked, watching the slow blinking of the light on the transmitter.

"I... don't actually know," Anakin admitted, "could be a few days, could be a few hours. I built it to keep consumption as low as possible but still send out the strongest possible signal. We'll just have to see what happens."

"So we carry on just waiting..."

"I'm afraid so, Snips... I'm afraid so."

The two of them rose together on an unspoken agreement, climbing down through the wreckage of the ship to the rear hold; Ahsoka had arranged the three beds along the one bulkhead, placing herself to Obi-Wan's right and Anakin's to his left, the rest of their meagre supplies piled up against the opposite wall. Anakin checked briefly on the wounded Master before tugging off his boots and stretching out on his mattress.

"You okay to keep watch a while, Snips?"

"Sure thing, Skyguy," she nodded, "get some sleep, Master."

Anakin quickly drifted off, leaving the young Padawan alone with her two slumbering Masters. She sighed, quietly, wrapping her blanket around her shoulders, sitting on her mattress with her back against the bulkhead. She picked up a datapad she had salvaged from the wreckage, and continued her reading. Given that she had nothing but time on her hands, she had decided she could at least catch up on some of her studies. She worked for a good few hours before a hoarse, dry cough shattered her concentration. She immediately dropped the pad onto her bed, rolling to her knees. Anakin was still fast asleep, but Obi-Wan stirred, coughing again, smothering a pained moan that made her heart ache with remorse.

"Master?" she whispered, softly, not wanting wake the sleeping Skywalker, "Master Obi-Wan, would you like some water?"

"Please..." the word was murmured, little more than a groan, so she immediately obliged, snatching up one of their flasks.

With a concerted effort, Obi-Wan raised himself onto his elbows, uttering a pained grunt at the movement of his wounded shoulder. Bracing his weight on his left arm, with a shaking right hand he raised the flask to his mouth, taking a couple of swigs, before holding it out slightly. Ahsoka took it before he could drop it, he was trembling so badly from the exertion, and she gently eased him back down onto the pillows.

"That... that looked like it hurt," she said, her small hand brushing a stray lock of hair out of his eyes.

"Was it that obvious?" Obi-Wan tried to give her a reassuring smile but it came across as more of a wince, "Ah... I see Anakin has finally conceded to rest..."

"He got the beacon working a few hours ago," Ahsoka whispered, resting both her hands on Obi-Wan's right hand, feeling him taking her fingers in his; she wasn't sure if he was drawing or offering comfort, but either way, she held on, grateful for the contact, "it's transmitting now. It hopefully won't be too long before someone finds us."

"Ah... good," Obi-Wan licked his dry lips, blinking fuzzily at the ceiling above him, "Um... Ahsoka? How... ah... how many doses of pain-reliever do we have left?"

"Only four, Master," she lowered her head, sadly, "I can give you some now, if you like?"

"Oh... no, no... we'd better try and make them last, I think."

"Are you sure you don't want to try a healing trance?" Ahsoka tried again, "It might really help, and it could be a long time before we are rescued..."

"We are just as likely to be attacked as we are rescued," Obi-Wan met her gaze with a soft smile, "and while I am hopeful that will not be the case, I will be no use if I am completely unconscious. I must stay at least semi-coherent if we are to survive together."

"Master Anakin says if you won't do it yourself when we run out of painkillers, he'll do it for you," Ahsoka tried to sound threatening, but the amusement twinkling in her Grandmaster's grey eyes told her that she had spectacularly failed.

"Master Anakin can try until the banthas come home," he replied, mildly, "far better Healers than him have tried and failed to put me in a healing trance against my will, young one..."

He shuddered, gritting his teeth against the pain, and Ahsoka felt his grip on her hand tighten slightly. She kept her left hand in his, using her right hand to reach out and stroke his hair. Human hair absolutely fascinated her; it was much softer and finer than the fur of a Wookie and could grow so much longer. So few species could boast such impressive manes, and humans wore their hair in an astonishing variety of colours and styles. She remembered, once, when she was first apprenticed to Master Anakin, asking him shyly if she could touch his hair; he had laughed at first but then crouched down obligingly, lowering his head to her level, allowing her to pet it in fascination, and then laughing again when she had asked if he could feel it like she could feel her head-tails, or move it like the Twi'leks and their lekku.

Master Anakin had laughed again and then patiently answered all her questions; no, humans didn't have feeling in the strands of hair, but having his hair stroked or brushed felt nice. Yes, he did it himself, but sometimes adults would do it for younglings, like a form of ritual grooming. No, humans did not just go around stoking each other's... it's just called 'hair', Ahsoka, not a 'mane'. Yes, it would be weird if a stranger touched his hair uninvited. No, it didn't hurt to cut it, or wash it, or braid it. No, she could not have a go at washing it for him; that was considered a very... um... intimate thing to do. Yes, Master Obi-Wan had hair on his face, but only because he wanted to; most human males could grow facial hair but some chose to shave it off, like Master Anakin did. No, he did not want to grow a beard – he thought it would make him look weird, and facial hair was much more prickly than head-hair. Yes, he was sure Master Obi-Wan would let her touch his beard if she asked him nicely the next time she saw him.

The best part was that he had, seemingly just as amused as Anakin at the young Togruta with her wide blue eyes alight in wonder as she touched and petted his face and head. At Master Anakin's prior suggestion, she had given the beard an experimental tug to see if it would come off, which had earned a yelp of pain and a slap to Anakin's knee as her Master fell about laughing, though Master Obi-Wan had been laughing as well. Realising that her Master had used her to play a prank on her Grandmaster, she had been more than a little mortified, but she had immediately received a hug of forgiveness from Master Obi-Wan.

Shaking herself from her reverie, she realised that she had absently been gently stroking Master Obi-Wan's soft hair for several minutes. He did not seem bothered by her gesture; in fact, if she could sense him properly, he actually found it soothing. She made a mental note to ask her Master about it later. She kept up the gentle, repetitive action, drawing as much comfort from it as Master Obi-Wan seemed to. She noted that he looked very, very pale, and beneath his beard his lips looked bloodless, his expression pinched with pain. Wishing there was more she could do, Ahsoka whispered to him softly.

"Go to sleep, Master," she breathed, into his ear; "it won't hurt while you're asleep. I promise you'll be okay. I'll stay with you. Go to sleep, please..."

Hesitatingly, she very gently tried to send him a sleep suggestion – she had never tried it on another Jedi before, even though her own Master sometimes used them on her if she was having difficulty sleeping. She was therefore shocked when he willingly accepted it, welcoming her gentle suggestion into his mind, letting her past his strong mental shields. As he did so, she got the briefest glimpse of how chilled to the bone he felt; pain reverberating in his head, the throbbing in his shoulder, the general ache throughout his bruised torso, his stomach hurting fiercely, and the lancing, stabbing pain that radiated up and down his right leg, before she felt him drift into sleep, the pain abating to a dull ache. The grip on her left hand relaxed as she froze, trembling slightly; her right hand halfway through combing through his hair, and her expressive blue eyes flooded with tears at what she had just felt. She withdrew her hands, and then, without really knowing what she was doing, she planted a gentle kiss on his forehead. Remembering how cold he had felt, Ahsoka fetched a couple more blankets, layering them over him, hoping it would help to offer him some extra warmth.

Her task accomplished, she sat on the edge of her mattress, facing Obi-Wan, to keep a watchful eye over the wounded Jedi. Ahsoka drew her knees up to her chest, wrapped her arms around them, lowered her head into her arms, and silently broke down in tears.

By the time Anakin awoke, several hours had passed, and Ahsoka had managed to release her feelings into the Force with time and meditation. Well, most of them, at least. As her Master stirred and sat up, groaning and stretching stiffened muscles, he glanced around, and huffed a sigh.

"We haven't been rescued, then," he said, dryly.

"Nope," Ahsoka sat with her legs crossed on her bed, facing him, her elbows on her knees, jaw resting in both hands as she watched him move, "no sign of anyone yet. I checked the beacon a few minutes ago and it's still transmitting."

Anakin sat up and turned, mimicking her cross-legged posture, his back straight, his wrists resting on his knees, hands and shoulders relaxed.

"What about him?" he angled a worried glance down at Obi-Wan; only the gentle rise and fall of his chest beneath the blankets gave any indication he was still alive, given the pallor of his face.

Ahsoka hesitated, and then opted for complete honesty; "He woke up a couple of hours ago... he asked about painkillers but then turned them down when I said there weren't many left. He had some water and I sat with him for a while. He was... he was in a lot of pain..."

Tears welled up in her eyes again and she hastily wiped them away with the back of one hand, waving away her Master's concerned glance in her direction.

"I, uh... I tried to... you know... I tried to keep him calm," she said, glancing away, "and then I had an idea so I... I sent him a sleep suggestion..."

The shock on Anakin's face was genuine, as he exclaimed; "You did what?"

Thinking that he was angry, Ahsoka held up her hands in apology, "I'm so sorry, Master, I didn't mean to, I just, you do it for me when I can't sleep, and I thought at least when he's asleep he's not aware of the pain, I'm really sorry..."

"Whoa, whoa, Snips, slow down," Anakin held up his own hand in reply, "I'm not... I'm not mad at you. Actually, it was a really nice thing for you to do. I just... I'm impressed you could do it, I haven't really taught you how yet and I'm... I'm even more surprised that he actually let you do it. I think I've managed it maybe three or four times in all of our years together, and that was usually because he wasn't shielding. Even asleep I can't get a proper read on him most of the time... it's even harder now we're not properly bonded anymore. Nice work, Snips."

Ahsoka lowered her head, was silent for a minute, and then, in a small, broken voice, she said; "It really hurt."

She sensed movement, and then the mattress dipped beside her, and Anakin was at her side, his left hand on her shoulder.

"What happened, Snips?" he asked, his concern for her tingeing their bond.

She wrung her hands in her lap, unable to meet his gaze.

"I... I didn't really know how to do a proper sleep suggestion," she admitted, "but I know how it feels when you do it to me, so I... I just sort of projected those feelings towards him, and he let me do it. It felt quite nice, but then... I... I don't think he meant to let me, but I got a look behind his shields, and it... it... it really hurt, Master... he... he felt so cold, and so tired, and in so much pain..."

The tears came again, and once she started, she couldn't stop, and she found herself being enveloped in a tight embrace, her sobs muffled against her Master's shoulder as he gently ran his hand down her back and rubbed her head-tails, knowing it comforted her, perhaps as much as it comforted a human to have their hair stroked. Eventually, she quietened, and he slowly released her from his embrace.

"I'm so sorry, Snips," his own voice was a little rough, and she was shocked to see that his eyes were red-rimmed as well, "if I'd been awake I'd have done it and you wouldn't have had to feel that. He wouldn't have wanted to hurt you; he absolutely hates sharing his pain with others."

"But when I broke my wrist sparring, he was the one who made it better straight away. He did something with the Force and he made it stop hurting until the Healer came and fixed it... wait. Did he take my pain for himself? I thought he just made it go away... oh, kriff, I remember it hurt so much, I didn't know he was feeling it for me... he sat with me for nearly an hour, and here I am complaining about one brief second!"

"Calm down, Snips, Obi-Wan's had way worse than this and always been fine. Besides, he wouldn't want you to feel bad for him. Sharing one's own pain is very different to taking pain away from another," Anakin huffed a humourless laugh, "and Master Obi-Wan has always been better at the latter than the former. He would have found it easy to release the pain of your broken wrist into the Force. Damage to one's own body is... different. He'd be very upset if he thought he'd hurt you, Snips."

"Then we just won't tell him," Ahsoka returned his tight smile with one of her own, "I'm sorry, Master – I know I need to release my feelings..."

"I think you just did, all over the front of my tunic," Anakin joked, wryly, plucking at the damp patch on the fabric, "Besides; I've never been much of a one for letting feelings go, to be honest. I find it much healthier to express them. But don't tell the Council I said that."

"As long as you don't tell Master Obi-Wan I just said kriff..."

"Well, actually, it's funny that you mention it, because while we were at the bottom of that slope, just before he passed out, he said..."

"Master! He did not!"

"He did, too! I was there, hand to the Force, I swear it! 'Oh, kriff' and face-planted square into my chest."

"Master Obi-Wan does not swear!"

"Master Obi-Wan has travelled the known universe and I can promise you he knows more profanity than you, me and Master Windu all put together."

"Master! You're pulling my head-tails!"

"Force's honest truth. He can curse a blue streak when the occasion calls for it. I've heard him do it, several times."

Ahsoka giggled in disbelief at the thought of her calm, dignified Grandmaster 'cursing a blue streak', as Anakin wrapped his arm around her shoulders, sharing a moment of closeness despite the bleakness of their situation.

The hours passed, blurring one into another, narrowing their focus down to interminable waiting to see if anyone had found their transponder signal. However, their initial hopes faded as a day passed into a night and back into another day, and then, finally, the power supply failed and the beacon ceased its forlorn, silent cries for help. Anakin and Ahsoka had spent a moment of silence in the cockpit, before going back to the rear hold, and breaking the news to a semi-coherent Obi-Wan, who nodded in quiet acceptance, and held both of their hands in comfort until unconsciousness claimed him once again.

Anakin refused to give up hope that someone had heard the signal and was on their way and continued tinkering with the ships systems to see if he could squeeze any more power into the silent beacon. Ahsoka distracted herself with her katas and her studies. Obi-Wan spent most of the time sleeping, occasionally taking sips of water or nibbling on a ration bar. Once, Anakin had helped him up to go outside to answer a call of nature; immediately giving him one of their precious doses of painkillers on his return to the bed, such were his gasps of agony at the short sojourn.

It was several more hours before the Master stirred again, to find his former Padawan kneeling beside him on his own mattress, eyes closed, meditating. Unwilling to disturb him, Obi-Wan forced himself up onto his elbows, gritting his teeth against the pain, stretching out the fingers of his left hand, intending on using the Force to call over the water flask that lay just out of reach... only to have it pressed into his hand by a metal hand.

"You could have just asked, you know," Anakin's voice sounded amused.

"Hah... I thought you were resting," Obi-Wan took a sip of the water, allowing Anakin to take the bottle from him as he moved his hand to cradle his sore stomach, "what time is it?"

"The ship's chronometer is as smashed as everything else," Anakin shrugged, blankly, "I lost count of the hours, I'm afraid. If I had to guess, it's about late-meal time on our third day here. Do you feel up to eating something?"

"Ah... not really," Obi-Wan winced and shook his head, "but I probably should. Hnh... help me... help me sit up."

"I'm not sure that's such a good idea..."

Nonetheless, Anakin obeyed, placing a couple of pillows against the scorched bulkhead, carefully helping his Master – he doubted he would ever stop thinking of Obi-Wan as his Master – to ease himself back on the mattress, so that he could sit upright against the wall.

"Huh... much... much better," Obi-Wan gasped, breathlessly, the pallor of his face and the sheen of sweat on his features belying his words, "just... just give me a minute..."

It took several moments for Obi-Wan to gather himself to release enough pain into the Force to quell some of the shaking and nausea that had accompanied the shift in position. Anakin hovered at his side the whole time, concern radiating off him in waves. Obi-Wan dipped his head and managed a dry chuckle.

"You're projecting, my young friend."

"Sorry," Anakin quickly reined in his feelings, "can't help it. You've got me worried, Master."

"Would it help if I told you to stop worrying?"

"It might, if you could hold your head up for more than three seconds without looking like you're either going to throw up or pass out."

Obi-Wan laughed, which turned into a dry cough, causing Anakin to press the flask of water into his hand again.

"We should ration this, Anakin," Obi-Wan tried to refuse, "we need to make it last."

"Ahsoka doesn't need to drink as much fluid as humans do, and I come from a desert planet," Anakin reminded him, "I'm used to not having much to drink. Besides, you need it. Please, Master... take some."

Relenting, Obi-Wan accepted the flask, taking a few small sips. Anakin managed to persuade him to eat a little of the ration bar, breaking off small pieces and handing it to him, encouraging him to wash down the dry meal with small measures of water from the flask. After barely eating half of it, Obi-Wan waved off the offer of more, shaking his head. They sat for a while in companionable silence, as Anakin quietly scanned his Master with the Force.

"Well?" Obi-Wan asked, with a tight smile at the young Jedi's carefully schooled blank look; "oh, come on, Anakin, don't pretend you didn't expect me to feel that... I'm not that far gone. Not yet, anyway..."

"You really must put yourself in a healing trance, Master," Anakin replied, insistently, "your concussion may be fading but I can feel your pain. The bacta is keeping your shoulder from becoming infected but between that, your leg, the internal bruising and now there's some bleeding... you're deteriorating, Master, I can feel it."

"You... you may be right," Obi-Wan conceded, "Anakin, I need... I need you to promise me something."

"Name it, Master."

"Take... take my lightsabre. If it comes down to it... if there's a choice to be made... you must promise to save yourself and Ahsoka, even if it means leaving me behind."

"No, Master, I won't! I won't do it, our fate will be the same, remember that?"

"Would that I could stay with you, Anakin, but if you have a choice between me and Ahsoka you must save her, understood?"

"I will save you both, Master."

"And I have faith that you will if you can, but if you must let me go, Anakin, then you must. You need to learn to let go, Anakin... promise me. Promise me, so I can do this, knowing you will do the right thing..."

"Very well... I promise to do the right thing, Master."

Obi-Wan quirked him a pained smile; "The Force be with you, Anakin. I love you, brother."

"I love you too, Obi-Wan..."

With great care, Anakin helped the Jedi Master to lie back on the bed, an effort that left him gasping and shaking, as weak as a tooka kitten. He blinked perspiration from his eyes, as Anakin grabbed a nearby rag, gently sponging the sweat from the other man's brow.

"Anakin," Obi-Wan gasped, reaching for his hand blindly, "h...help me... please... I... I don't have the strength..."

"Then use mine," Anakin caught the trembling hand, clasping it over Obi-Wan's chest in both of his, "allow me, Master..."

With a little effort, Anakin called the Force to them both, wrapping it around them like a cloak, calling it into Obi-Wan, who lay still, too weakened to call upon it for himself. He closed his eyes and watched as Obi-Wan gradually embraced the Force as Anakin summoned it to them, the other Jedi channelling it, directing it, drawing it into himself as he grew stronger. Anakin felt a slight frown crease his brow as Obi-Wan gently began to nudge him away, now drawing the Force fully into himself – he had expected him to start directing healing energy to his various injuries, but he seemed to be concentrating on drawing as much energy as possible.

"Obi-Wan... what are you doing, Master?"

Anakin drew back slightly in alarm; his command of the Living Force was legendary – he was the so-called "Chosen One", after all – but he had never seen so much raw power drawn by one person, and he had certainly never tried to do so himself.

"Master! What are you doing? Stop, you can't control that much power! Master! Please, stop!"

"What the Sith-hell is going on with the Force?" Ahsoka dashed into the room, eyes wide, panting for air, having run some distance from outside, drawn by the massive disturbance in the Force, "Master? What... what's happening?!"

"I'm not sure!" Anakin was almost frantic, his hands on Obi-Wan's chest, "He was supposed to use my strength to go into a healing trance, not do... whatever the fark this is!"

The Force, normally a whispered melody in the back of their minds, was building to a crescendo; the two young Jedi could only drop to their knees, awed by the sheer power of it, both vaguely aware of Obi-Wan's presence in the centre of it and then, with a siren-like howl in their minds, Obi-Wan released the full torrent of the energy... and it was gone.

It was mid-morning on Coruscant, and Jedi Grandmaster Yoda sat in the Council chambers, listening to a worrying report about another planet recently annexed by the Separatists. Master Mace Windu sat to his left; Masters Ki-Adi Mundi, Po Koon and Shaak Ti were also in attendance.

"Concerning, this news is," the elderly Master rubbed his jaw, thoughtfully, "expanding their borders rapidly, the Separatists are. Consider our next move carefully, we must..."

He nodded to himself, his pointed ears flexing slightly as he allowed himself to feel the ebb and flow of the Living Force around him, the other Masters discussing which, if any, of their ships might be spared to offer assistance to the newly-fallen system, when he felt... something. He frowned, holding up his hand, and silence fell as all eyes in the room turned towards the diminutive green Master, sensing something was amiss.

"Master Yoda?" Windu was the first to speak, "What is it?"

"A great disturbance, I sense," Yoda frowned, casting his consciousness into the swirling eddies of the Force, "a build up of the Living Force, I feel... such power..."

The other Masters all closed their eyes, one by one, tuning into Yoda's Force signature, in an effort to detect what he was sensing.

"Strange," Ki-Adi Mundi frowned, "it seems to be coming from the Outer Rim..."

"I see a small moon..." Po Koon was the next voice to speak, his tone deepened by his breathing mask, "and a crashed ship..."

"I sense... argh!"

The assembled Council members each gasped or yelped aloud, grasping their heads in shock, as the huge build up of energy suddenly exploded into the force, like a bursting bubble. Yoda grasped a clawed hand to his chest, breathing heavily, as he turned huge eyes towards Mace Windu.

"In serious trouble, young Obi-Wan is. Go to him now, you must."

"I have the sense of the co-ordinates – I will need a fast ship!"

The normally serene Master swept out of the Council chamber with a flick of his cloak, sprinting to the landing bay, where he spied a small reconnaissance ship being loaded with fresh supplies, preparing for a mission. With hyperspace engines and a long-range communications system, it was perfect.

"Stand aside! I'm commandeering this ship! You, protocol droid, and you, medical bot – you're coming with me. Let's go!"

Leaving a trail of confused droids in his wake, Windu ran up the loading ramp and, within seconds, the ship was airborne, streaking into the sky.

"Obi-Wan? Obi-Wan... no, no, no! Don't you dare do this!"

"Master, I... I can't feel his presence!"

"He's not breathing... shit, shit, shit... Ahsoka, med kit, fetch the heart-pulse!"

As the Padawan scrambled to obey, Anakin knelt over the unresponsive form of his Master, placing both hands together on his chest, starting compressions. With a metal hand, he had to be careful not to apply to much pressure, and he was mindful of his actions, even as his mind reeled in panic.

You have to let me go, Anakin...

No! I can save you both!

Ceasing compressions, Anakin pinched Obi-Wan's nose, tilted his head back, and blew two strong rescue breaths down his throat, noting the slight rise and fall of his chest in response. Ahsoka had yanked open the Grandmaster's tunic, placing the heart-pulse on his chest.

"Clear!" she said, and tapped the button.

Beep... Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...

The electrical pulse shot through the other man, and then emitted a flat, monotone sound; there was no heartbeat.

"Don't you do this to me, Obi-Wan, don't you kriffing dare..."

Anakin forced two more breaths into lips that were already turning blue. The pulse beeped and jolted again, and then resumed the flat-line noise.

Beep... Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...

Two more breaths, and this time Anakin called on what little was left of his strength in the Force, pouring it into Obi-Wan in desperation, concentrating on his heart, and a regular rhythm...

Beep... Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...

"Oh, come on! Try, Obi-Wan! Come back!"

Two more breaths, and a last, desperate shove with the Force, accompanied by a silent plea...

Beep... bip...bip...bip...bip...bip...

"Oh, thank the Force," Anakin collapsed in on himself, crumpling against the bulkhead weakly, trembling with exhaustion, "by every God in the known universe, Master, don't ever farking do that to me again..."

"What... what did he do?" Ahsoka's eyes were wide with fright and bewilderment.

"I... I'm honestly not sure," Anakin admitted, raising a shaking hand to his face, "Ah... Ahsoka, I... ah... I hate to do this to you, but... I think... I think I'm gonna... pass out now, okay?"

"Master?" the young Togruta's alarm ramped up another notch as Anakin's eyes rolled back, and he slumped over onto the floor.

She sat there for a moment in mute shock, and then said the first thing that came to mind.

"Kriff!"

Realising that her Master had simply exhausted himself in his efforts to save Obi-Wan, she managed to drag, push, tug and roll the much taller – and heavier – Jedi, getting him sprawled on his own mattress, where he could at least rest in relative comfort. She threw a blanket over him, and then turned her attention back to her other patient. She plucked the beeping heart-pulse from Obi-Wan's bared chest, silencing it. With shaking hands, she tucked his tunic back around his body, drawing the blankets up around him.

Ahsoka grabbed one of her pillows and set it on the floor in the narrow gap between her two Masters, so that she could sit between them. She tried to reach out to both of them, but their Force signatures were so weak and muted that they eluded her clumsy attempts to touch them, and she withdrew, feeling nothing from her bond with her Master. She had never felt so alone... with her right hand, she reached out, brushing her fingers through Obi-Wan's hair and with her left hand, she mirrored the action with Anakin's shorter, curlier locks.

The day faded into night, when hunger and muscle fatigue forced her to move from her vigil. Concerned about dehydration, she found an IV line in their first aid kit, managing to jerry-rig a rudimentary drip stand with some scrap metal and a flask of water, using it to give Obi-Wan some much-needed fluids. She removed it when the bottle was empty, hoping Master Anakin would awake without the need for such desperate intervention. Night bled into day, and she slept a restless few hours on her own bed. The night came again, and, after practicing her katas, she felt a slight shiver in the Force. It was weak, but distinct, and she embraced it joyfully.

"Master!"

She fled back into the ship, overjoyed to see Anakin groggily sitting up on his mattress, nursing his head in both hands.

"Kriffing bantha-farking shukking karking hells..." he groaned, slurring the profanity into a single, drawn out expletive, "what in the nerf-loving universe just happened...?"

"If I had to guess, I'd say you're Force-exhausted, Master," Ahsoka handed him a flask of water, and he drank from it deeply.

"That's impossible," Anakin shook his head and immediately regretted it, "oww... I don't get Force-exhausted; I've always had unlimited power..."

"Maybe you just have a really high limit compared to everyone else," Ahsoka shrugged back, "either way, all the symptoms fit – the headache, dehydration, fever, unconsciousness, inability to touch the Force..."

"Kriff, you're right – I can't sense either of you."

"It will come back in a few days – probably faster, knowing you, Master," she assured him, "you've been unconscious for two days."

"Two days! What about... what about Obi-Wan?"

"Still unconscious," Ahsoka said, sadly, indicating the prone man, sadly, "he hasn't even stirred since he did... whatever it was he did... what, exactly, did he do?"

"I think... I think he was calling for help," Anakin scrubbed a hand over the stubble on his jaw, and Ahsoka realised with a start, that he had been right those few years ago – he did look weird with a beard.

She shook herself back to the present, and raised her brows at him, questioningly; "A call for help? How?"

"I'm not sure... but somehow he drew more Force energy than I've seen anyone do, and I think he was using me to do it. He didn't take all of my power, if he had, we'd both be dead, but I don't think he planned to survive..."

He shot a look at the prone Master, part annoyance, part respect.

"I think he used all of that energy to project a simple message; 'we're here. Help us'."

"Do you think anyone heard him?"

"With that much Force energy being unleashed in one go? It probably felt like... I dunno, like a planet exploded, or something. Hopefully a Jedi somewhere will have picked up the signal."

"Well, I certainly felt it."

"Me too, Snips," Anakin rubbed his head, ruefully, "feels like my skull's splitting... no, no, save the painkillers. If I feel this bad, then he's definitely going to need them more than I do, when he wakes up."

Ahsoka avoided meeting her Master's eyes as she glanced at Obi-Wan's gaunt, pale face.

If he wakes up at all...

Another day came and went; Anakin rested and ate a little, rapidly regaining some of his strength, and Ahsoka was relieved to find their bond shivering back to life as he recovered, though she did not press the way he immediately began rebuilding his mental shields, cautious not to let her see the true extent of his feelings. They were sharing a joint meditative trance when they both simultaneously opened their eyes, and without a word, scrambled to their customary positions, kneeling over the third member of their family.

"Master," Anakin's voice was a respectful, soft whisper, "Master, can you hear me?"

"A...An'kin?"

"Yes, Master, it's me," Anakin placed his flesh and blood hand on Obi-Wan's chest, feeling the unsteady beating of his heart, "I'm here, and you're going to be fine..."

He saw Obi-Wan's face tightening in pain, tensing against it, gritting his teeth in agony; before he could say anything, Ahsoka had already snatched up a dose of painkillers administering it quickly. She then placed her hand on Obi-Wan's forehead, stroking his hair gently. Matted with sweat and grime, it was no longer soft, but she kept up the action, rubbing her fingers along the crown of his scalp as his breath hitched in his chest. Flickering eyes blinked open, fuzzily locking onto Anakin's leaning over him.

"Did... did it work?"

"I... don't know," Anakin admitted, "Coruscant is days from here... if it worked, it will take time for a ship to reach us, if your signal reached that far."

Obi-Wan slumped back on the pillows, his eyes drifting shut again.

"Didn't... didn't expect to survive that..."

"I told you I wasn't going to let you die; not if I could help it."

"Th... thanks, I... think..."

"Yeah, I know, you feel like bantha-crap right now, but you're going to be okay, Master. Help's coming, I'm sure of it."

Obi-Wan made a non-committal noise, and Anakin watched as the older Jedi's consciousness deserted him once again. Ahsoka looked at him in dismay, but her Master shook his head.

"Let him sleep, Snips – next time he wakes, he might feel a little stronger..."

She nodded, and, with nothing else to do, she lay down on her mattress, and prayed to the Force that someone was coming for them.

She awoke late the next morning, when her Master insisted that she eat the last of their ration bars.

"We should save it for Master Obi-Wan," she argued back, "he needs it more than I do."

"You know as well as I do, Snips, it's not gonna happen. He won't eat it, he'd insist on you having it, so please, save him the effort of arguing with you, and eat it."

Hating herself but succumbing to her hunger, she ate the bar slowly, making herself chew and savour each dry mouthful, sipping on a little water. Their supplies would be exhausted by the end of the day. At around midday, Obi-Wan cracked open clouded, red-rimmed eyes, and muttered something that made Ahsoka's head-tails shiver.

"He's coming," he mumbled, vacantly staring at the ceiling, "he'll be here soon..."

"Master?"

"Ahh... Ahsoka... you look tired, Padawan..."

"Who's coming, Master?"

"What?"

"You said 'he's coming'..."

"Who is?"

"Oh... uh... never mind," she shook her head, holding a flask to his cracked, parched lips, "here, drink this, Master."

She carefully dribbled the last of the precious liquid into his mouth and he swallowed, coughing a little, wheezing as his breath caught in his chest. Ahsoka simply sat quietly beside him, holding his hand, rubbing her fingers over his knuckles, just as he had done for her when he had held her while waiting for her Master to fetch a Healer after she had broken her wrist. She remembered being held to his muscular chest as he took away her pain, wiped away her tears, and made her feel both safe and loved. Oh, how she wished she could return that gesture...

A sound tickled the edge of her awareness and she frowned at the disturbance in their moment of peace. Obi-Wan, semi-conscious, did not stir, as Ahsoka turned her head curiously towards the noise.

"Snips! Snips! Wake up! Obi-Wan! There's a ship coming in to land! A ship's coming in to land!"

"A ship?" stunned, unable to believe her Master's jubilant shout, Ahsoka stumbled to her feet, following him out of their ruined vessel, watching in disbelief as a small reconnaissance craft folded up its wings and landed neatly in a puff of dust.

A ramp extended and she turned in shock as her Master activated his lightsabre, assuming a defensive stance.

"Be ready, Snips, it could be anybody," he growled, "and we are getting off this rock one way or another."

She nodded, steeling herself, and drawing her twin sabres. Then, three sabres immediately deactivated as a familiar figure strode confidently down the ramp, robes swirling around him.

"Master Windu! Thank the Force!" Anakin exclaimed, almost falling to his knees in relief, "You... you came!"

"We heard Obi-Wan's signal," Mace Windu nodded his head, "where... where is he?"

"He's inside... he's very badly hurt..." dazed, scarcely able to believe rescue had come at long last, Ahsoka reached out and took Windu's hand, leading him towards their ship.

Under normal circumstances, Ahsoka found the serene Council member a little severe, if not downright intimidating, but when he had walked down the ramp of a ship come to rescue them, she felt like running over and kissing him. Taking him by the hand would have to do instead. She and Anakin all but dragged him into the wreckage of their shelter.

"I hope you've got medical supplies on board," Ahsoka found herself saying, still a little numb from shock, "and water, we need water..."

"And food," Anakin added, ruefully, "lots, and lots, and lots of food..."

Windu shot the two of them amused looks of sympathy and understanding, but this transmuted into horror the moment he stepped into the tiny room they had been living in. Lying under a couple of blankets on a thin, battle-scorched mattress, Obi-Wan was so gaunt and pale that Mace had a hard time recognising his friend.

"Obi-Wan," he crouched down beside him, picking up a limp hand and holding it in both of his, pressing it to his own chest, swiftly scanning the other Master's condition with the Force, "what in the Living Force did you do...?"

"Master Windu," the ailing Jedi Master slowly blinked open his eyes, as he raised a wan smile, "I knew you'd hear me... knew you'd come..."

Windu turned back to Skywalker and his young Togruta apprentice; both of them also looked thin and pale; covered in filth and exhausted, but with matching, determined expressions.

"On board my ship," he told them, "in the hold, you'll find medical supplies. Bring a hover stretcher, intravenous fluids, and painkillers. We need to stabilise him before we can move him. Go!"

The scrambled to obey, as Windu turned back to his younger friend, placing one hand on his chest, sending him a pulse of strength with the Force, and Obi-Wan groaned in response. Windu was picking up the tell-tale signs of Force-exhaustion, a blaster wound, slight internal damage, extensive bruising, a badly broken leg, and the shivering of pervasive secondary infections causing a low-grade fever.

"You're a mess, Obi-Wan," he tried to inject some humour into his tone, "if Qui-Gon could see you now, he'd have a few words to say..."

"He... said... hello," Obi-Wan cracked his eyes open again and Windu startled, not realising he was still conscious, "said... it wasn't... my time..."

"Shush, my friend, just rest," Windu patted his hand, reassuringly, "we'll get you feeling much better in no time, you'll see."

Anakin and Ahsoka returned quickly with the medical supplies; Windu immediately administered painkillers, antibiotics, fever-reducers and an anti-inflammatory for good measure. He hooked up an IV, running a bag of fluids into the other Jedi as quickly as he dared. He changed the bacta dressing on the blaster wound, and removed the one on the head wound; noting that it was healing without the need for further intervention. Once he was satisfied, he gestured to the other two.

"Ahsoka, support his head; Anakin, his legs. I will lift him; you will guide him onto the stretcher."

When they were in position, Windu reached into the Force, and used it to gently lift the wounded Master onto the stretcher, lowering him gently. They adjusted the IV accordingly, as Ahsoka pulled a clean, warm blanket over him, smoothing it out. Windu gave the stretcher a tug, and they left their ruined ship behind without a backward glance. In the bright lights of Master Windu's ship, Ahsoka and Anakin exchanged glances, realising just how pale, gaunt and filthy they both were.

"Go – you'll find clean clothes in the sleep chambers and there's a fresher you can use to clean up. I'll have the protocol droid bring you food and drink. I will get Master Kenobi to the medical droid, and then set the course for home. It'll take us a few days to reach Coruscant, so I suggest you get some rest."

Too exhausted to argue, Anakin turned and nodded, walking away down the corridor. Ahsoka when to follow, but then hesitated.

"Master Windu?"

"What is it, young Padawan?"

She paused, and then dashed towards him, throwing her arms around his waist, burying her face in his robes.

"Thank you for saving us," she whispered, in a small, broken voice.

A gentle hand rested soothingly on her head-tails; "It was the will of the Force, young one. Now, go with your Master, and get some rest."

She nodded, and, at Anakin's amused, if shocked, expression, she grabbed his outstretched hand.

"Come on, Skyguy, you smell like a bantha pen and I'm hungry!"

After showering, eating several protein bars, drinking three bottles of water and then sleeping for what felt like a whole day, Ahsoka awoke feeling almost halfway back to her old self. She knew that, upon returning to the Temple, she would be expected to visit the Halls of Healing; she would need to write her reports, possibly go before the Council, and catch up on all of the classes she had missed, let alone the progress of the war with the Separatists. But, all of that could wait until she got back to the Temple. Climbing out of the bed, having savoured the soft bunk and clean sheets for long enough, she showered again, pulled on fresh clothes, and made her way to the sleep quarters down the hallway that was doubling as an emergency medical bay. She buzzed the door once, resolving to leave immediately if there was no response, but she was delighted when the door opened obediently.

She all but skipped inside, and was not surprised to find Master Anakin was already there, half-sitting on the edge of the medical stretcher, looking much cleaner and better-rested than he had when she'd last seen him.

"Hey, Snips," he greeted her, "I hope you brought some food with you..."

"You bet, Skyguy," she pulled a protein bar from her pocket and tossed it at him; he caught it deftly, smiling broadly.

An ear-to-ear grin spread across her face at the sight of Obi-Wan. He still looked pale and thin, but his expression was no longer pinched in pain and he was awake, sitting upright, leaning back on a pile of pillows. An IV line was attached to the crook of his elbow, and beneath the blanket she could see the shape of a thick cast encasing his injured leg, but he smiled broadly at the sight of her.

"Ahsoka!" He opened his arms invitingly, and she did not hesitate, launching herself across the room but then slowing, mindful of his injuries, as she leaned over the stretcher and into his embrace, hugging him gently.

She pulled back, not minding the tears of joy in her eyes; "Master Obi-Wan... how are you feeling?"

"Much better, thank you, Padawan," he assured her, as she carefully perched herself on the bed at his feet, angling herself to face Anakin, "I am pleased to see you're both well."

"It's nice to be clean again," Ahsoka nodded, happily.

"And fed," Anakin added, through a mouthful of protein bar, "uh... sorry. You want one?"

Obi-Wan chuckled and shook his head; "I'm... uh... not sure I can manage food yet... the droid is drip-feeding me liquid nutrients though."

He pointed to one of the IV bags, scrubbing a hand over his pale face, clearly still exhausted from his ordeal. Ahsoka placed her hand on his leg and he gave her another tired but genuine smile.

"Master," she said, quietly, "well, both of you, really... I don't know what you did or even how you did it, but... it worked. You saved us all."

"So I've saved your life how many times now?"

"It doesn't count if the saving was mutual, you know..."

"That's Sithspit, and you know it!"

"Anakin, we really must discuss the kinds of language you use in front of young and impressionable Padawans..."

Ahsoka folded her arms, smirking; "I don't think it's had any kriffing effect on me whatsoever."

Twin indignant voices rose in unison; "Ahsoka! Language!"

If Master Windu could hear their laughter from the cockpit, he paid it little heed, other than to quirk a small, rare smile, and then continued on their course.

Author's Note: Reviews... I crave them... please; they give my work purpose... thank you!